He asked for it!

[sir_eldren]

Wednesday night my partner and I received directives from the league director to call the game extremely tight. He said he wanted cheap penalties called and didn't care how much stupid, nit-picky things we called. He didn't want any replays of last week's near-brawl (which was all caused by ONE player who is new to the league and doesn't realize fighting is not tolerated at all). So, my partner and I did just that.

We didn't really call too many more penalties than normal, we just ended up calling tiny, silly things. As directed, I ended up calling an interference penalty on a goalie because he stepped two feet out of the crease and pushed an opposing player from behind. My partner called a silly body checking penalty on a guy who was hit by another, but the other guy fell down.

Almost every player felt the games went well and weren't upset about anything. Of course, there was one guy who was called for a roughing penalty behind the net. My partner made the call and skated to the scorekeeper to report it. The guy, after realizing he was going to the box, exclaimed loud enough for me to hear (but not my partner) "Throw me out then! Go on, just throw me out!"

At that point, I almost tossed him myself, which I think I really should have now that I think about it. Instead, I skated to my partner, told him what he said and recommended he toss him. He didn't though, much to my chagrin. I'm a firm believer in calling penalties on people when they ask for them. I don't think he is. *shrug*

What would you have done in that situation?

-Craig
Washington State

[RefWEB]

Originally posted by sir_eldren

Almost every player felt the games went well and weren't upset about anything. Of course, there was one guy who was called for a roughing penalty behind the net. My partner made the call and skated to the scorekeeper to report it. The guy, after realizing he was going to the box, exclaimed loud enough for me to hear (but not my partner) "Throw me out then! Go on, just throw me out!"

At that point, I almost tossed him myself, which I think I really should have now that I think about it. Instead, I skated to my partner, told him what he said and recommended he toss him. He didn't though, much to my chagrin. I'm a firm believer in calling penalties on people when they ask for them. I don't think he is. *shrug*

What would you have done in that situation?

-Craig
Washington State

I'm a firm believer in punishing offenders. IF he's ASKING to leave the game, then the appropriate punishment is to keep him in the game. Don't give him what he wants.

In my mind, saying "Why don't you throw me out then?" is nowhere near enough to toss somebody. If its only loud enough for you to hear, I'd ignore it and let him sit his penalty.

If, however, it was lound enough for the stands to hear, he's challenging your authority. Ding him for 2 minutes. Then tell the coach that you're not going to grant this player's request. Should the player get out of line, you give the kid a minor penalty each time, putting the team at a disadvantage. Hopefully, the COACH is smart enough to toss the kid himself.

But, in the situation you described, the kid didn't o enough to get tossed in my mind.

[sir_eldren]

Those are good tactics when you're playing in a league game with coaches, fans, and kids. But what about adults that don't have coaches (and not really a declared captain) and few fans are watching (maybe 8 people)?

-Craig

[RefWEB]

Originally posted by sir_eldren
Those are good tactics when you're playing in a league game with coaches, fans, and kids. But what about adults that don't have coaches (and not really a declared captain) and few fans are watching (maybe 8 people)?

-Craig

Men's league - now THAT'S a different story. Get rid of the malcontents ASAP...because they'll just end up doing something REALLY stupid that will take the cops/national guard to get back under control.

I hate Men's league. If I'm going to have to babysit 12 hockey players, I prefer they be actual children.

[sir_eldren]

ROFL!!! That's what I was thinking. ;o) But you know, babysitting is fun and has its advantages.

Lately I've become the most hated ref on the ice. I've dished out many misconducts and bench minors for stupid stuff, but it sure shuts the guys up and gets the game under control for the rest of the team that wants to play hockey and can accept that refs are human.

Up until the beginning of Spring league there has never been much pushing and shoving and the gloves have only come off twice before (once in October and once at the beginning of March). Then we got this new kid coming in who plays in beer leagues in Canada that don't care about fighting. He's usually the one in or near any hostile gatherings on the ice. But Garth is taking care of him real nice. ;o)

-Craig

[RefWEB]

Originally posted by sir_eldren
ROFL!!! That's what I was thinking. ;o) But you know, babysitting is fun and has its advantages.

Lately I've become the most hated ref on the ice. I've dished out many misconducts and bench minors for stupid stuff, but it sure shuts the guys up and gets the game under control for the rest of the team that wants to play hockey and can accept that refs are human.

Up until the beginning of Spring league there has never been much pushing and shoving and the gloves have only come off twice before (once in October and once at the beginning of March). Then we got this new kid coming in who plays in beer leagues in Canada that don't care about fighting. He's usually the one in or near any hostile gatherings on the ice. But Garth is taking care of him real nice. ;o)

-Craig

Problem up here is that, for the most part, men's rec hockey is not sanctioned by Hockey Canada. So you get the unfortunate combination of a) refs who don't give a darn and b) teams full of guys who think they should have been in the NHL even though they're playing beginner rec.

[sir_eldren]

That's sad that Hockey Canada doesn't sanction the rec leagues up there. USA Hockey sanctions our rec leagues at all levels, although some leagues choose not to go with USA Hockey for stupid reasons (or they don't enforce the USA Hockey mandated suspensions).

I'm in the unfortunate position to be moving to a city where hockey is rare and their B league is not quite as good as the C league in my current city. Then again, I have the great fortune of living 60 miles from Vancouver, BC right now (well, maybe not great, the Canucks are always on TV when the Sharks are playing). LOL!

But in my new city the rec league is basically just a beer league. I may have to be the guy to come in a clean the place up. They were a bit stunned with the calls I made last year when I went down for a vacation, but they didn't dare question me when they saw the BCAHA patch on my sleeve. LOL! And then there's the apathetic referees down there to contend with. *sigh* Oh well, it will be fun, and if I play my cards right, I may be able to work my way in to running the place. The guy they have right now is about as useful as roller skates on ice.

-Craig

[hab_in_exile]

Here's my two bits on this one Craig.

For one, you should not have asked your partner about calling the penalty. Whether or not you should call it at all is debatable (I could see either side of that argument), but in a two man system, you see it (or hear it) you call it. Especially if it is clear the other official did not. Don't be so deferential to your partner in that situation, just make the decision on your own and your partner should be supportive.

As for the other note. You mentioned wearing your BCAHA patch in a non-sanctioned league event. Be careful with that. There are some associations that are adamant about not wearing the patch in non-sanctioned hockey. That is one of the more annoying ways to find yourself suspended.

Good luck

[sir_eldren]

Originally posted by hab_in_exile
As for the other note. You mentioned wearing your BCAHA patch in a non-sanctioned league event. Be careful with that. There are some associations that are adamant about not wearing the patch in non-sanctioned hockey. That is one of the more annoying ways to find yourself suspended.

You are correct. I'm very careful about which jersey I wear when I'm not working a USA Hockey game--they can be real sticklers for that rule. But I don't think it will matter much if I wear the BCAHA patch in Nevada. ;o) It would be like wearing a hockey jersey in Louisiana: who's gonna really know what it means?

But if somebody does make a big deal of it, I'd grudgingly take it off and put it away. *sigh* And thanks for the heads-up. I'm not aware of any rules in the BCAHA that prohibit wearing the patch in non-sanctioned games, but I'll look into it.

-Craig

[RefWEB]

Originally posted by sir_eldren
[QUOTE
But if somebody does make a big deal of it, I'd grudgingly take it off and put it away. *sigh* And thanks for the heads-up. I'm not aware of any rules in the BCAHA that prohibit wearing the patch in non-sanctioned games, but I'll look into it.

-Craig

ITs not a BCAHA rule, its a Hockey Canada rule. Wearing a HC or Branch cresting in unsanctioned hockey can bring up to a year suspension.

[michaelpr]

just a recomendation. what i do is put velcro on my sweater where my patches go, so i can interchange them for each league. this not only keeps me in line with the leagues, but i do not have to buy a sweater for each league i do.